There were paramedics all over the street. People lay on stretchers, waiting to be moved to ambulances.

I walked up to an EMT. “Can I help?”

The man looked at me. “Are you a doctor under that suit?”

“I can heal people.”

The EMT shrugged. “There’s a group that won’t make it to the hospital. See if you can help them first.” He pointed at a cluster of almost thirty people.

I had just finished healing victims when Nanocloud arrived in the Gladiator.

She walked over with a laser rifle in hand. Smart girl. Nobody messes with a power-armored figure in a laser rifle.

: you okay?

: still annoyed she got away

: all this - and for nothing

: not nothing

: we’ll get her next time

: there’s something else I need to tell you

Before I could tell her about saving London, Lady Lumina, Soundwave and Quintana arrived.

Lady Lumina nodded to us. “Nanocloud. Good to see you. Belessar, a word?”

I nodded. “I’ve done what I can. We can speak now, if you want.”

Lumina nodded. “We need to talk about - tactics. And dealing with Agni.”

“Right here, in the middle of the street?”

Lumina shrugged. “We can meet at the DURABLE office if you’d like.”

“Why don’t you just tell him now?” snapped Quintana.

“Tell me what?”

“Easy there,” rumbled Soundwave. “It’s nothing.”

TEST OF PERCEPTION: PASSED.

THE THREE HEROES ARE CONCERNED BY YOUR ACTIONS. FIND OUT WHY.

“I’d prefer,” I said, “if you told me now.”

Lady Lumina shrugged. “Fine. When Agni attacked the street, you followed her into the supermarket.”

“I chased her, yes.”

“Leaving the street on fire.” Her eyes bored into me. “And nearly a hundred people caught in the flames.”

I hadn’t thought of it that way. “I felt it was necessary to stop Agni,” I replied.

“But you didn’t. Instead, a number of people who could have been saved - died.”

“I made a decision.”

“Yes. You did.”

A moment of silence fell.

Lumina continued, “The duty of a hero is to save people. Not simply to rush in and let loose with whatever weapons you have at your disposal.”

“I didn’t intend to hurt anyone. I didn’t hurt anyone.”

“And the market? Are you telling me you didn’t use your weapons in there?”

“My hammer a couple of times. But I didn’t trigger it to collapse…. I came face-to-face with Agni. Tried to talk her into surrendering.”

“Surrendering,” Lumina’s voice was flat. “You. Asked her. To surrender.”

“I gave her a chance.”

Quintana laughed.

“We know how much of a chance you give villains, Belessar,” rumbled Soundwave. “Please don’t feel it necessary to … shade the truth, as it were.”

“I’m not shading anything. When I confronted Agni in the mall, I gave her a chance to surrender. She declined.”

“And then you fought, and the market came down?”

“More or less. The roof started collapsing above me.”

“We were fortunate no-one was trapped in there,” Soundwave commented. “Still, it was a risk.”

“Battle involves risks,” I responded.

“And where is Agni now?” asked Lumina.

“She got away.”

“Because she can teleport through flame.”

“Well - yes.”

“Any idea why she targeted you, in particular?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I can think of one,” pointed out Quintana. “She dislikes ultras aligning with militaries, doesn’t she? The Armykiller. And here’s Belessar, who gets medals for hanging around soldiers.”

“At least he doesn’t get them for being a coward,” snapped Nanocloud.

It got very quiet all of a sudden.

Quintana turned slowly to face Nanocloud. “What did you say, newbie?”

“I said at least he’s not a coward like you.”

: hey, calm down

“You’ve got nerve, Miss I-want-to-stay-in-support.”

“At least I didn’t cheat my way into a medal.”

“That was crossing the line,” snapped Lady Lumina. “You should apologize, Nanocloud.”

“For what? The truth?”

Quintana snorted. “The two of them are alike. Lies and collateral damage.”

“As opposed to sneaking off and slacking off just because you’re invisible?”

“You weren’t there, you were living it up in the support tent.”

“I saw you. All of you. I saw Soundwave skimping on his repairs, and Quintana keeping quiet about the Sarnak patrols she passed.”

Lumina glanced at her colleagues. Quintana shook her head. “She’s lying.”

“That never happened,” added Soundwave. “Nanocloud, I respect your contributions, but you need to refrain from such - falsehoods.”

“Nanocloud doesn’t lie,” I growled.

“And you’re ever so truthful,” snapped Quintana.

“We’ve been truthful with you.”

“Really. So did you give the Blackhats a chance to surrender before you assassinated them?”

What?

“I didn’t assassinate them,” I replied hastily.

“You killed them, Belessar,” Lady Lumina said. “All three of them were found dead with evidence of weapons fire. From the type of weapons you use.”

“They ambushed me,” I replied. “I was just - defending myself.”

“Really,” drawled Quintana. “You were defending yourself - and you didn’t bother to tell the police about it afterwards.”

I flinched inside. I hadn’t thought about it.

Any deaths occurring in ultrahuman combat had to be reported to the police. A small detail. Minor.

But…. problematic.

“I’ve been busy,” I muttered.

Lady Lumina gave me a disbelieving look. I couldn’t blame her.

“Perhaps if you’re so busy, you should focus on fighting Agni,” replied Quintana, “and we’ll focus on protecting the city.”

“That seems fine to me,” I snapped back.

Quintana laughed bitterly. “Roast in hell, Belessar.” She faded from view.

Soundwave looked perturbed. “Surely you don’t mean that,” he replied.

“Why not?” Nanocloud said. “So far, we’ve done all the actual fighting. You just show up late and lecture us.”

Lady Lumina’s posture was absolutely stiff. “Belessar. Nanocloud. We will comply with your desires.” She turned around and stalked off.

Soundwave gave us a concerned look, then shambled on after her.

I stared at my sister. “Did we just… lose the help of the entire ultra contingent of Tanisport?”

“We don’t need them,” shrugged Nanocloud.

I sighed. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper. You shouldn’t have lost yours.”

“Please. There’s only so much you can put up with before you flip.”

“You flipped hard today.”

“I don’t want to be the punching bag anymore, Belessar. You either stand up for yourself when you’re pushed, or you walk around afraid of your own shadow all the time.”

“Well, we’ll just have to come up with another plan then.”

“About that. I might have an idea….”